


Stay With Me

by thericketandoo



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Character Death, Gen, Jaeger Pilots, Kaiju, Loss, One Shot, Shaolin Rogue - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-25
Updated: 2013-10-25
Packaged: 2017-12-30 10:00:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1017251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thericketandoo/pseuds/thericketandoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>When the alarm sounded, Tendo Choi was sitting at a table in the mess hall, going though maintenance reports for the Jaegers stationed at the Hong Kong Shatterdome. Tendo had just transferred from Lima, and before that Anchorage a month earlier, and there was already more work on his plate than he had anticipated.</i>
</p><p>What happens when Jaegers fall, and someone is there to listen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay With Me

**Author's Note:**

> Having Tendo Choi feels, and realizing that he probably listened to a number of Jaeger pilots die, I felt obligated to write something sad about this. I'm so sorry.

When the alarm sounded, Tendo Choi was sitting at a table in the mess hall, going though maintenance reports for the Jaegers stationed at the Hong Kong Shatterdome. Tendo had just transferred from Lima, and before that Anchorage a month earlier, and there was already more work on his plate than he had anticipated. 

He should not have been surprised, though, since Jaegers were falling left and right all over the pacific rim, and the PPDC was scrambling to keep the remaining fleet in top condition. Shaolin Rogue, one of the Jaegers housed in the Hong Kong Shatterdome, had recently undergone a programming overhaul, designed and supervised by one C. Avery Johnson, an American working under contract for the PPDC. For three weeks now, every diagnostic round for Shaolin had come back at ninety-ninety percent. That one-percent was due to a "ghost" in the programming. While Tendo was not directly involved with Shaolin's maintenance, it was his job to make sure they weren't sending defective Jaegers into battle. Every time a test was run, everything would work fine, but the readings would show systems missing that one-percent, and that was enough to make Tendo wary of Johnson's programming abilities. At least fifty messages had gone back and forth between Shaolin's maintenance team and Johnson, arguing whether or not this error was worth investigating further.

Tendo had only made it a third of the way through the message backup before he was one-hundred percent sure that he did not care for Johnson, or his shitty programming.

\--

Upstairs in the LOCCENT Mission Control room, someone was already sitting in his chair. Zhang Yan, a PPDC engineer, swiveled around to see who was approaching, and jumped slightly when she saw that it was Tendo.

"Sir!" She stood up quickly, giving up her seat.

Tendo gestured for her to relax, and nodded a 'thank you' as he sat down and put on his headset. "Take a seat, and fill me in."

She waved at the holographic display and information began to scroll. "Category 3 Kaiju, codenamed 'Hidoi', is approaching Bangkok. Shaolin Rogue and Crimson Typhoon are prepping to drop."

"Shaolin?" Tendo was about to protest, but he noticed Marshall Stacker Pentacost had entered the control tower.

"Sir, a category 3 Kaiju is headed towards Bangkok, and two Jaegers are preparing to drop," Tendo took a beat, making sure the marshall acknowledged him before he continued. "But, Sir –"

Stacker raised an eyebrow slightly, unaccustomed to “buts” coming from his officers – especially Tendo – and braced himself for the rest of the sentence.

"Sir, Shaolin Rogue has been having issues since the new software was installed. Until the problems are resolved, it would be unwise to send her into combat."

"Um, excuse me, Sir, there are no 'problems'!" Avery Johnson stood up from behind another console, and walked towards the front of the tower, waving his hands dismissively. "We've been running simulations for weeks now, and the error margin is so small it's practically nonexistent."

"Practically?" Tendo was not easily pissed off, but Johnson's blatant disregard for the safety of the Jaeger's pilots was more than he could handle.

"Sir, Shaolin's pilots are ready to drop," Zhang Yan announced, and looked uneasily at Tendo.

"LOCCENT, this is Gina and Li Xia, awaiting your orders!" As Gina spoke, the vital stats for the twin sisters popped on one of the screens.

Tendo turned back to the console, looking over the data flashing on the holographic display. "Stand by, Shaolin," Tendo spoke toward the monitors, and turned back to Stacker, "Sir?"

Stacker looked to Johnson, back to Tendo, and then, with resolve, at the displays. "For the interest of time, Shaolin will go out now. Crimson will be close behind if there are any issues." He paused to make sure Tendo understood. "Those are my orders."

"Yes, sir!" Tendo, unable to go against Stacker's orders, turned back to his instruments. "Shaolin Rogue, neural handshake initiating in 5… 4… 3…"

_God, have mercy._

\--

A Kaiju attack from the perspective of LOCCENT Mission Control is only shapes moving on displays, the death and destruction nothing more than statistics to be reviewed later. Tendo monitors the Drift, and the overall scene, listening to the pilots when they key in to speak. The pilots in a single Jaeger don't need to speak to each other, and often only communicate verbally to coordinate with other Jaegers, leaving LOCCENT mostly in the dark when it comes to details of the battle itself. Still, the whole control tower watches their equipment intently, trying to anticipate the needs of the pilots, while simultaneously blocking off the nightmarish images creeping into their consciousness every time a jaeger takes a hit, or they hear the cry of the Kaiju.

\--

The beast that was showing on the monitors now, Hidoi, had, by the sound of it, a chameleon-like appearance, with fused eyelids containing unblinking eyes that rotate in their sockets, but a toad-like body, covered in glowing blue slime. Tendo tried to visualize the monster, but somehow every Kaiju always became Trespasser in his mind.

"<Those teeth! You think we could knock a few of those out?>" Li Xia was speaking in Mandarin to her sister. She was always the more aggressive of the two pilots.

"Hey boys, a little help over – " Gina began playfully, only to be cut of by a sudden jolt when the Jaeger came to a full stop. "What the . . . ? What's happening?!"

Alarms were going off on every console: Lights flashing, and error messages scrolling across screens monitoring Shaolin. Tendo turned around to see Johnson hitting the side of his monitor, muttering, "Motherfucking programming ghosts!", and shaking his head. He glared at Johnson, wide-eyed, and in disbelief and anger, until Johnson returned his gaze with a look of fear. Tendo went back to his screens. Shaolin Rogue had lost all power, and was dead where she stood.

For a solid five minutes, everything was a blur: Stacker ordering Crimson Typhoon to take lead, Johnson insisting over and over that this "could not be happening" as he attempted to reboot the system, and Tendo trying to reassure Shaolin that they were working on the problem.

It was too late. Silence fell over the room like a glass that had been dropped in a crowded restaurant. The screams of Shaolin's twin pilots were cut short by the sounds of grinding metal, followed by Hidoi's cry and an abrupt radio silence.

"Shaolin? Shaolin Rogue? Gina! Li Xia, come in!" Tendo yelled into his headset, desperation obvious in his voice. There was no response. He swallowed, but he could still taste the bile in his throat.

\--

Crimson Typhoon continued to engage Hidoi using their Thundercloud formation, and within ten minutes, the Kaiju had fallen alongside Shaolin Rouge. Stacker was ordering Crimson back to the Shatterdome when Tendo heard something on his headset.

"Ohhh God…"

The voice was weak, almost whispered. Tendo pulled the tablet he had been using in the mess hall earlier closer to him on the console, and opened up a jaeger maintenance program. He selected 'Shaolin', and linked in the Jaeger's communication system.

"Shaolin Rogue, this is LOCCENT. Do you read me?" He held his hand over his ear, hoping to hear a voice.

"Tendo?"

"Gina!" Tendo turned around to get Stacker's attention. "Gina's alive! . . . Gina, how is your sister? We're sending help. Hold on." An incredible rush of hope filled his chest, almost making it difficult to breathe, but a glance a screen that was showing a helicopter view of the fallen Jaeger made him realize it may have been too soon.

Shaolin's arms were torn off, and where the Conn-Pod of the Jaeger should have been was a crunched up ball of metal. If she was in there, she wouldn't be getting out anytime soon. When Tendo turned around, he saw that Stacker was looking at the same thing.

"Sir, permission to – " he began, but Stacker nodded before he could finish. He picked up the tablet and walked out of the control room.

Once outside, he found an empty hallway and slid his back down one wall until he hit the floor. He rested the tablet on his lap and took a deep breath.

"Gina, are you still there?" He could hear her breathing. Shallow, and pained, but it was there. After a long pause, she responded.

"Yes. I'm here. Li is . . . She's . . . " Gina's voice caught in her throat.

"It's okay. The medical team is on their way. Hold on."

He could hear her, fighting tears, struggling to breathe. She probably in shock. _She can't. No. Don't think that._

"Tendo, I-I've been hoarding baking supplies for weeks," Gina said softly, sounding a bit embarrassed.

"What?"

"For my girlfriend's birthday. She hasn't had cake in years."

"Oh!" The realization washed over him. With rationing in place, she had meant things like sugar, flavorings, chocolate, fruit, and even possibly a mixer. Even in a Shatterdome where pilots are well fed, baking supplies were hard to come by. 

"McKenna will love that, I'm sure. I didn't know you could bake."

"I can't, and I guess . . . " She trailed off for a moment. "We were going to watch Star Wars."

"Which one?"

"All of them! I've never seen Star Wars."

"You've never seen Star Wars?!" Tendo gasped. "How did I not know this about you? How can you just avoid seeing that movie your whole life? You grew up in the U.S., yeah? How are we even friends, and you haven't seen Star Wars?!"

"Yes, yes, I just, I don't know! I just never did. Maybe so I could say that I never did? I don't know. Did I miss out?" Her tone was earnest, but quiet.

"Gina, please," he began, trying to be positive, trying to have hope, but it was fading fast. Gina's breathing was so quiet, she could have been asleep. He knew she couldn't take a deep breath, and he wasn't even sure she could move at all. She was going to die, and he couldn't help her. He had been pleading for himself.  _I can't do this again._

"How is your wife?"

 _My wife? My wife._ The thought of her pulled him out of his own head. "Alison, yes, she's well. Actually, she's . . . We haven't told anyone yet, but she's pregnant." 

"That's so wonderful . . . " Gina's voice was wispy, and fading.

"Yeah." He would have smiled, if he could. 

At a loss for words, Tendo sat listening to her breathing, unconsciously fiddling with the rosary wrapped around his left wrist.

"<Yao ni chengwei wo men qianglie>"

"What?"

"<Yao ni chengwei wo men qianglie>… that's what she said. That's… what she thought as she… Do you know what it means?" Gina's tone was resolved. She was prepared for the inevitable.

Tendo thought for a moment. Li Xia spoke Mandarin, not Cantonese like his grandfather once did, or like they spoke in the Shatterdome, but the words still felt familiar. Then it came to him.

"I think… 'be strong for us'?" 

" _Please_."

There was a quiet sigh on her end, silence, then only the sound of Tendo's own breathing. _Be strong… for them._  

~

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, Kayla for encouragement, and help with the Mandarin. Hopefully it's effective!
> 
> Also, thank you Sarah for helping me edit.
> 
> If anyone is curious, Gina and Li Xia have bios that I wrote for them, so maybe I'll share them? Maybe??


End file.
